Silva was in complete control the entire way, walking three and striking out five. (Damion Reid)

Tottenville’s Joe Sessa brings back a homerun. (Damion Reid)

When John Silva took the mound Monday afternoon at Tottenville, there was more than a division title riding on his left arm. There was 25 years of dominance, the Pirates streak of Staten Island A crowns in the balance.

“It’s a big thing,” he said. “It’s tradition.”

Silva kept that tradition going for at least two more days, tossing a complete-game no-hitter in the host Pirates’ 4-0 blanking of rival McKee/Staten Island Tech. The left-hander’s brilliant outing gave Tottenville the lead in Staten Island A with one regular-season game left against the Sea Gulls on Wednesday. It will be winner-take-all, as MSIT won the previous meeting.

He walked three and struck out five, dominating the same lineup he failed to get through five innings against on April 29. MSIT hit just two balls hard and were unable to get on top of Silva’s high fastballs.

“He was on his ‘A’ game, ‘A’ game all the way,” designated hitter George Kantzian said.

“I didn’t think in any dream [a no-hitter] would happen,” said Silva, who picked up his third league win. “I tried not to think about it. I tried to get outs. A win was more important.”

Silva has gotten progressively better since the loss to MSIT (15-2), his command and control steadily improving. He located his curveball to the outside of the plate and busted the Sea Gulls inside with well-placed fastballs.

“I saw this coming, saw him being dominant,” Tottenville coach Tom Tierney Jr. said. “I didn’t think no-hitter, but dominant enough to be at a championship level, and that’s what he proved today.”

Tottenville’s lineup backed up its season-long productivity. The Pirates (16-1) touched up Sea Gulls ace Ryan Mannello, who entered 7-0, for three home runs – all over the short left-field fence – and several other well-hit balls that found MSIT outfielders.

Kantzian, the eighth-place hitter, put the first dent in Mannello’s resume by turning on a 1-2 fastball, a shot that would’ve gone out of most yards. Second baseman Brendan Farr added a solo shot two batters later, a ball that popped in and out of left-fielder Nick Skomina’s glove. In the sixth, Tottenville’s Joe Sessa added the third round-tripper, a two-run shot down the line.

“The balls they hit, he really just missed location,” MSIT catcher Joe Trezza said. “He threw about three bad pitches today and they hit every one out.”

The Pirates were perfect defensively behind Silva, highlighted by Sessa robbing Ian Gutch of a pop-fly, two-run shot over the make-shift wall in left to save the no-no in the seventh.

“I wasn’t giving up his no-hitter,” he said. “I was catching it no matter what.”

Silva capped the day by catching Scott Barnickel looking at a knee-high fastball. He hopped off the mound, pumped his fist and was mobbed by teammates. Tierney played down the streak, saying he would rather be prepared for the city playoffs – winning a title is the ultimate goal – than to add another division title to the trophy case.

“It would be nice to win, I’ll say that, but It doesn’t mean all that much,” Tierney said. “We didn’t really talk about it. Many of them weren’t even born yet.”

His players feel differently. They don’t want to be the ones to end the Pirates’ reign. There wasn’t much said before the game, other, Kantzian said, than “we’re not losing.”